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2017 Buenos Aires ePrix
2016 Marrakech ePrix |next = 2017 Mexico City ePrix |pole = Lucas di Grassi |natp = BRA |pteam = ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport |natpt = GER |ptime = 1:09.404 |fastdrive = Felix Rosenqvist |natfl = SWE |fltime = 1:09.467 |lapno = 31 |flteam = Mahindra Racing |flteamnat = IND |winner = Sébastien Buemi |nat1 = SUI |nat2 = FRA |sec = Jean-Éric Vergne |nat3 = BRA |third = Lucas di Grassi |wteam = Renault e.Dams |natt = FRA}} The 2017 Buenos Aires ePrix, officially known as the 2017 FIA Formula E Buenos Aires ePrix, was the third round of the 2016/17 FIA Formula E Championship, staged at the Puerto Madero Circuit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 18 February 2017.'From Hong Kong to New York: FIVE NEW CITIES FOR THIRD FORMULA E SEASON', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 02/07/2016), http://fiaformulae.com/en/news/2016/july/from-hong-kong-to-new-york/, (Accessed 02/07/2016) The race would be the first ePrix to be staged in 2017, and the first venue of the third FE season that had featured during the previous two campaigns. Qualifying saw Lucas di Grassi claim his first pole position in an ePrix, the Brazilian sharing the front row with Jean-Éric Vergne.'Di Grassi on pole in Buenos Aires', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 18/02/2017), http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2017/february/di-grassi-on-pole-in-buenos-aires/, (Accessed 19/02/2017) Championship leader would start from third, while the two NextEV NIOs of Oliver Turvey and Nelson Piquet Jr. completed the Super Pole shootout, having survived an incident packed session. At the start it was pole sitter di Grassi who led the field away from the line, with Vergne and Buemi slotting in behind.'Buemi becomes hat-trick hero in Buenos Aires', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 18/02/2017), http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2017/february/buemi-becomes-hat-trick-hero-in-buenos-aires/, (Accessed 19/02/2017) Yet, before either of the two Renault powered machines could challenge, a Full Course Yellow was called after Adam Carroll failed to get away from the grid. Once Carroll was away the race resumed, with di Grassi quickly coming under pressure from Vergne. The Brazilian was starting the race in a car he had crashed in FP2, and his wounded car did little to aid his cause. He was therefore powerless to prevent Vergne, Buemi, Turvey and Nicolas Prost from passing before the stops. Buemi also managed to take the lead before the stops, before establishing a sizeable lead ahead of the stops. Yet, his second car was not setup to his liking, and so the Swiss racer's six second lead slowly collapsed, with Vergne, and a resurgent di Grassi, catching him in the closing stages. A tense final few laps saw Felix Rosenqvist snatch fastest lap, while Sam Bird crashed at turn four, having had an issue with his first car early on. Buemi, meanwhile, held on for victory at the front of the field to claim his third win in a row, while Vergne had to back off on the final lap to conserve energy. di Grassi claimed third with Prost in fourth, while Mitch Evans looked set to claim Jaguar Racing's first points, before being slapped with a five second time penalty. Background The Buenos Aires ePrix had become a popular venue for Formula E during the first two seasons, and there was little desire for a replacement for the 2016/17 season. As a result, the Buenos Aires ePrix would be included in both the provisional and official calendars released throughout the summer of 2016, listed as the third round of the new season. Its placement in the calendar was also significant, as the Buenos Aires round would be the first time during 2016/17 season that had hosted Formula E before, meaning comparisons could effectively be drawn from previous seasons on an unchanged circuit. Break Bounties The three month mid-season break since the Marrakech ePrix resulted in very little news that affected the series, until 9 January 2017. That development surrounded the future of Esteban Gutiérrez, who was in racing limbo after a deal to join Manor Racing in Formula One fell through.'Esteban Gutierrez to race in Formula E', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 09/01/2017), http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2017/january/esteban-gutierrez-to-race-in-formula-e/, (Accessed 10/01/2017) The Mexican racer therefore opted to take the chance to join the Formula E family, announcing that he was in talks with numerous teams to take part in his home race, the Mexico City ePrix, set to be held on the 1 April. Gutierrez was also revealed as an ambassador for the series, and confirmed his intention to obtain a full drive in the series for the 2017/18 season. One other major story involving Formula E would be the inaugural Visa Vegas eRace, held on the 7 January.'Bono Huis wins $200,000 in Visa Vegas eRace', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 07/01/2017), http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2017/january/bono-huis-wins-200-000-in-visa-vegas-erace/, (Accessed 10/01/2017) The event saw several sim-racers take on several Formula E drivers in a simulated race weekend, with a huge $200,000 prize on offer for the winner. That man would be Bono Huis, who walked away with the biggest prize in eSports racing history having defeated his opponents in every session, which was televised at the 50th edition of CES at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. The best of the Formula E runners would be Felix Rosenqvist in second, with half of the top ten made up of the sim-runners. Elsewhere, there were changes in store for FanBoost ahead of the third round of the 2016/17 season, with the voting window reduced from twelve days.'FanBoost tweaks made ahead of Buenos Aires ePrix', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 06/02/2017), http://formula-e.wikia.com/wiki/2017_Buenos_Aires_ePrix, (Accessed 06/02/2017) In an attempt to increase participation in the FanBoost voting system, the FIA and Formula E decided to open the voting just six days before the start of the 2017 Buenos Aires ePrix, but would still remain open into the first six minutes of the race. The change also included the removal of voting via Instagram, an option which had largely been ignored since its introduction. Marrakech Marvels Victory for in Marrakech had seen the Swiss racer double his tally for the season, a perfect start ensuring the reigning FIA Formula E Champion arrived in Argentina with a 22 point advantage. Lucas di Grassi, the Swiss racer's biggest rival, was the closest challenger, with Nicolas Prost up to third. Felix Rosenqvist used pole and third place to jump into fourth, ahead of Sam Bird. The supreme team in Formula E were proving to be Renault e.Dams after another strong weekend, their weekend in Africa leaving them with double the points of their nearest challengers. ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport and Mahindra Racing sat on 36 points apiece, ABT Schaeffler ahead courtesy of a second place finish, with another large gap back to DS Virgin Racing in fourth. The only team yet to score were Jaguar Racing, although Dragon Racing, Venturi and Techeetah were all still in single figures after two rounds. Entry List The full entry list for the is displayed below: Practice FP1 FP2 Qualifying There would be no changes to the qualifying format ahead of the Buenos Aires ePrix, with four groups of five cars randomly drawn to complete a single flying lap.'Buenos Aires ePrix - Qualifying groups', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 18/02/2017), http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2017/february/buenos-aires-eprix-qualifying-groups/, (Accessed 18/02/2017) The fastest five from the combined table would then go through to the Super Pole shootout, going out one by one to try and set the pole time. Positions six to twenty are then based on times set during the group stage. Group 1 Group one was to consist of the Jaguar Racing pair of Mitch Evans and Adam Carroll, Maro Engel of Venturi, Robin Frijns for Andretti and DS Virgin Racing's Sam Bird. Of the quintet it would be Bird who was favourite after a strong Practice performance, with the Brit also having a win at the circuit. Frijns was likely to be battling with Engel with an outside shot of Super Pole, while the two Jaguar racers would be hoping for top ten starts at best. There was a huge surprise right at the start of qualifying, as Evans pushed his Jaguar round to the fastest time in group one, beating pre-quali favourite Bird by three tenths. The Brit struggled to get heat into his tyres, leading him to slap the wall at turn seven without any major damage.'Qualifying Highlights Buenos Aires 2017 - Formula E', youtube.com, (YouTube: FIA Formula E Championship, 18/02/2017), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HlR2gCpuGY, (Accessed 19/02/2017) Behind them came Frijns and Carroll, both in the 1:10.000s, while Engel had an issue on his full power lap with his car shutting itself down. Group 2 Championship leader Sébastien Buemi headlined group two ahead of qualifying, joined by arch rival Lucas di Grassi for ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport. Another man not to be ruled out was Jean-Éric Vergne for Techeetah, the Frenchman having been strong in Practice, while Nelson Piquet Jr. was another to look out for. completed the quintet for Dragon Racing. Group two ultimately provided four of the top five times from the group stage, with Vergne putting together an excellent lap to set the fastest time of the day, a 1:08.751. Buemi was next ahead of di Grassi, while Piquet's lap was two tenths faster than Evans to set the fourth best time. The fifth man in quintet was d'Ambrosio, with the Belgian slotting in between Evans and Bird. Group 3 The third quintet featured home hero in the second Virgin, with many of the fans hoping their man could challenge for the shootout. was another who could entertain hopes of getting into Super Pole, a race winner at Buenos Aires in the past, while Felix Rosenqvist claimed pole last time out. Completing the group were Frenchmen and , racing for Venturi and Andretti respectively. There would be heartbreak in group three for the home fans, as López lost the backend of his car through turn seven and smacked the wall, breaking his rear suspension on his full power run. He was not the only one to crash during group three, da Costa clipping the inside wall of the final chicane, although the Portuguese racer was able to complete his lap. Sarrazin, Rosenqvist and Duval all ran trouble free, but none of them could threaten the Super Pole times. Group 4 The final group of the day was to be lead out by Nicolas Prost for Renault e.Dams, with the sister car of Ma Qing Hua also on track with Techeetah. Oliver Turvey was also to go out with NextEV NIO, while Daniel Abt would race with ABT Schaeffler. Completing the final quintet would be Nick Heidfeld on behalf of Mahindra Racing. Group four saw Turvey cause a shock, as his last gasp attempt knocked the second Renault e.Dams car of Prost out of Super Pole, moments after the Frenchman had elbowed Evans out of the top five. Elsewhere, Abt smacked the wall at turn four on his quick lap, limping round to complete the sixteenth best time, with Ma suffering the exact same accident a few moments later. As for Heidfeld, the German completed a clean but otherwise uninspiring lap to finish in the middle of the pack. Super Pole First man out in Super Pole was Piquet, but the 2014/15 Champion put together a scruffy lap, falling shy of his group time by two seconds. Teammate Turvey was next, although he would suffer a huge lockup on his way to beating Piquet. Then came di Grassi for ABT Schaeffler, with the Brazilian putting together the first clean lap of Super Pole to record a 1:09.404. Buemi went out to set the penultimate time of the session, although the Swiss racer's lap was ruined by a lock up at turn one, meaning he could only beat the two NextEVs. Then came Vergne with an ultra attacking lap, although a huge lock up at turn seven cost him almost two tenths, enough to drop him behind di Grassi and into second. Post Qualifying The final qualifying results for the are outlined below: ** Cars #5, #33 and #37 all failed to complete a lap within 110% of the fastest time, a 1:15.626, but would all race at the steward's discretion. Race It was a warm and dry afternoon in Buenos Aires as the ePrix approached, with all twenty drivers lining up on the "dummy" grid without issue.'Practice, Qualifying & The Race From Buenos Aires - Full Footage', youtube.com, (YouTube: FIA Formula E Championship, 18/02/2017), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFJtPmsDrOE&t=30187s, (Accessed 21/12/2017) Only minor repairs were required for Daniel Abt and Ma Qing Hua after their brushes with the wall in qualifying, while Maro Engel was hopeful his shut down in quali was a one-off. They would all start in their undamaged cars that had not run in qualifying, joining the rest of the field as they pulled onto the proper grid for the start. Report At the start it was pole sitter Lucas di Grassi who gained the advantage, leaving Jean-Éric Vergne to fight off a challenge from into the first corner. The rest of the field thundered into the first corner without major contact, leaving Adam Carroll stranded on the grid. As the pack continued their brawl around the opening lap, a Full Course Yellow was thrown to remove Carroll's stranded Jaguar. However, as the field came to end the opening lap in their long queue, Carroll finally managed to get his Jag to fire up, having just been pushed to the side of the circuit. The Brit duly sprinted off to catch the back of pack, although whether he would be allowed to continue, let alone catch the field, remained in doubt. Regardless, with Carroll now up and running, the FCY could be withdrawn, just as di Grassi led the field through turn four on the second lap. It was a clean restart for the leaders, but there would be some serious scraps in the middle of the pack. Mitch Evans got into the back of into turn seven, while Felix Rosenqvist found himself glued to the back of Nelson Piquet Jr. Come the end of the second lap Evans was lining up a move on d'Ambrosio, elbowing his way past the Belgian into the first corner. Vergne, meanwhile, had forced di Grassi to defend into the first corner, compromising his run through to turn four. That gave the Frenchman a run on the Brazilian into turn four, and an expertly timed dive on the brakes carried the Techeetah through. di Grassi was left to defend from arch-rival Buemi, although the Swiss racer eased his way past into turn seven. By the start of lap four it was Vergne leading from Buemi and di Grassi, while Oliver Turvey had kept with them as the top four broke away from the pack. Piquet Jr. was forming a road block in fifth, keeping Rosenqvist and Nicolas Prost at bay, although the Frenchman was able to elbow his way past the two of them with simple dives. Evans, d'Ambrosio and completed the top ten, while the two DS Virgins of Sam Bird and slipped to the back of the field. Vergne and Buemi began to inch away from di Grassi and Turvey over subsequent laps, although it became increasingly clear that the Swiss racer was going to make a move. Ultimately, his move would come at the start of lap six, and expertly timed dive carrying the Renault e.Dams past the Techeetah run sister car of Vergne. Behind, Turvey setup a move on di Grassi through turn one, before clinching third from the Brazilian into turn four. With that, the race began to settle down, with Buemi pulling clear of Vergne, while Turvey dropped di Grassi. The Brazilian was now left to fight Prost as behind, and Robin Frijns elbowed Sarrazin out of the top ten. Elsewhere, Carroll was effectively out of the race after getting lapped, while Bird slapped the wall somewhere out on circuit and so had to limp around to retire his first car, some ten laps before the pit window. Turvey became the centre of attention as the pitstops edged ever closer, the Brit having to work hard at his energy consumption and therefore allowing di Grassi to catch back up. Prost was now glued to the back of the Brazilian, while Piquet and Rosenqvist watched on less than a second behind. Ultimately, it was Prost who got the ball rolling in the Turvey train, sending his Renault past the ABT Schaeffler with ease into turn four. At the back of the field, meanwhile, Engel was causing a series of yellow flags as his Venturi continued to grind to a halt, restart and then subsequently shut down again every few metres. Home hero Lopez was slowly picking his way back up the order, pulling an expertly timed dive on into the second hairpin, before sprinting off the catch a hampered Daniel Abt. Yet, they like everyone else were being but in the shade by race leader Buemi, who was pulling out a huge lead out front, despite using less energy then his closest challenger Vergne. The fight for third was getting increasingly more intense as the pit window loomed, with Prost unable to find a way past Turvey, allowing di Grassi to try a couple of half-hearted attempts. Turvey ultimately had to stop a lap earlier than his challengers, diving in on lap nineteen, with Evans (soon to be slapped with a five second time penalty for speeding during the FCY) and Duval following him in. The rest of the leading pack followed him in, the only exception in the top ten proving to be Rosenqvist. Rosenqvist, and teammate Nick Heidfeld, would go on for an additional lap, although the Swede lost a lot of time on his extra tour before getting stuck in the pits with an issue. As Heidfeld rejoined the entire field had stopped, with Buemi still leading from Vergne. Turvey had been the big loser, dropping down to sixth behind Prost, di Grassi and Piquet Jr., while Evans, Duval, d'Ambrosio and Abt completed the top ten. The laps after the stops became more of a quiet affair, with the only major change coming when Evans lost out to Duval in the middle of the top ten. di Grassi, meanwhile, launched an attack on Prost to claim third, an expertly timed dive into turn one on lap 24 putting him onto the podium. As they fought for the cameras, Lopez lost out to Heidfeld outside of the top ten, the German having an additional lap's worth of energy compared to those around him. With a six second lead in hand, Buemi began to ease his pace out front, allowing Vergne and di Grassi to edge slightly closer as the race wore on. Back in the pack, meanwhile, Abt was having to defend hard from Frijns, causing a queue to form from tenth to fifteenth. In the middle of the queue was Heidfeld, under investigation for being under the minimum pitstop time, but would complete an expert dive past Sarrazin for twelfth. Indeed, it was Heidfeld who was causing a stir in the order, his next move coming on Frijns on the thirtieth tour. Abt, meanwhile, had used his FanBoost to sprint away from the quintet, while Heidfeld's move on Frijns allowed Sarrazin to harass the Dutchman. However, before Sarrazin could make a move stick, Lopez would get an excellent run on the Venturi to claim thirteenth. Sarrazin almost repaid the complement into turn four, although Lopez's aggressive style proved too much for Sarrazin to conquer. Into the closing stages and Heidfeld was slapped with a drive-through for breaking the minimum pitstop time. Elsewhere, Lopez's charge had moved him into eleventh with an excellent run on Frijns, while Abt had caught onto the back of Evans. Buemi, meanwhile, suddenly found himself under-pressure from Vergne and had to push, making a minor mistake but maintained the lead. Elsewhere, it was civil war at Dragon on the penultimate lap, with d'Ambrosio and Duval running side-by-side for half a lap while fighting for sixth. Turvey and Evans, meanwhile, were taken by Abt, both Brit's having to conserve their energy just to make the finish, while one of the Virgins smacked into the wall at turn four. That man proved to be Bird, as Lopez relegated Evans to eleventh on the final tour. Indeed, the Argentine almost made it as high as sixth, as the two Dragons had to seriously conserve their energy on the final tour. d'Ambrosio was the loser of the two, losing out to teammate Duval and Abt, while Turvey just fell shy of the Belgian at the line. Lopez was left in tenth just off the back of the Brit, while Evans slipped down to thirteenth with a time penalty. The last lap drama distracted everyone from the fact that Buemi had cruised to a third straight victory of the season, leaving him with a huge advantage at the top of the Championship. Vergne had conceded the victory on the penultimate lap, cruising to second, while Prost was unable to challenge di Grassi for third. Piquet Jr. just crossed the before his energy reserve ran out for fifth. Result The final classification of the is displayed below, with the fastest lap setter indicated in italics, and the pole sitter shown in bold. * Indicates a driver was awarded FanBoost during the race. Milestones * Third ePrix to be staged in Buenos Aires. * Maiden pole position for Lucas di Grassi. ** Also the first pole for Schaeffler as a manufacturer. ** Second pole for ABT Sportsline as an entrant. * Sébastien Buemi earned his third win in a row and his ninth win in FE. * e.Dams secured their twelfth victory as an entrant. ** Eighth win for Renault as a manufacturer. * Techeetah awarded their first podium finish through Jean-Éric Vergne. * Fifteenth podium for di Grassi. Standings A third victory in a row put Sébastien Buemi on 75 points after just three rounds, leaving the Swiss racer with a huge 29 point lead. The man in second would be Buemi's arch rival Lucas di Grassi, ten points clear of the Swiss racer's teammate Nicolas Prost in third. Jean-Éric Vergne leapt into fourth with his second place finish, while Felix Rosenqvist was relegated to fifth. Renault e.Dams left Argentina with 111 points to their name, Buemi's hattrick of victories combining with Prost's trio of fourth place finishes. German team ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport remained in second on 60, almost half their French rivals total, while Mahindra Racing were falling away in third. Jaguar Racing once again failed to score, as NextEV NIO and Techeetah both entered the top five after a mutually strong weekend. Only point scoring drivers and teams are shown. References Videos and Images: * References: Category:2016/17 ePrix Category:Buenos Aires ePrix